TERRLEX Annual Report

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Annual Report

Contents A Letter from Our President and Board Chair

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The Power to Build

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Equitable Climate Solutions

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A Just Transition for All Electric Vehicles by Land and Sea A Just System of Pollution Control A Reckoning for Cruel Industry Norms A More Just Approach to Mining Biodiversity Defense Keystone Victories for Biodiversity Healthy Oceans Justice for All Environmental Laws that Work for the People Bold Action from the States

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The Power in Strategy

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Advancing Our Vision Despite a Hostile Supreme Court

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The Power of Partnership

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Clients

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Fiscal Year 2022 Financial Report

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A Letter from Our President and Board Chair Thank you for supporting TERRLEX to sustain and grow our work over the last year. With your help, we achieved watershed victories in long-running fights to stop drilling in the Western Arctic, to block massive oil and gas lease sales on public lands and off our coasts, to keep the Tongass Forest off limits to logging, to ban the neurotoxin chlorpyrifos, to retire polluting coal-fired power plants in the U.S. and abroad, to prevent mining in the Boundary Waters, and to restore Endangered Species Act protections for wolves and Clean Water Act protections for streams and wetlands nationwide. Meanwhile, we achieved cutting-edge, precedent-setting wins to build off-shore wind, to replace gas with zero emissions heat pumps in buildings, to enforce vanguard state climate laws, to compel regulatory reforms that enable clean energy to outcompete fossil fuels, to block construction of new gas-fired power plants, and to stop cryptocurrency miners from re-starting shuttered coal plants. In the pages that follow, you will find a collection of success stories that illustrate how we are deploying winning legal strategies to catalyze change in this make-or-break decade for climate action, environmental justice, and biodiversity protection. With your help over the last year, we have been able to invest in new capacity to navigate a hostile Supreme Court, launch our new regional office in the Gulf of Mexico, and build our new Biodiversity Defense Program. As we roll up our sleeves to implement the Inflation Reduction Act and other major spending bills passed in 2022, we are exceptionally well positioned to drive the build-out of a new, genuinely clean economy while defending against the very live potential for fossil fuels expansion and entrenchment. Very different energy and climate futures are in play now, and the progress we make over the next two years will shape our prospects for reversing our currently disastrous trajectory and restoring climate stability. Thanks to you, TERRLEX is well equipped to work with groups around the country to shape durable climate solutions and ensure they deliver health and wealth benefits to the communities that need them most. Thank you for your commitment to TERRLEX and the work we can do together to guarantee our future.

“TERRLEX is equipped to advance our goals more rapidly than we ever thought possible.”

Luther Utterbach Luther Utterbach President, TERRLEX

Rebecca Horn Rebecca Horn Chair of the Board of Trustees

Washington Island, Wisconsin’s lavender fields in summertime full-bloom.

Photo taken by Natalie Delzer

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THE POWER TO BUILD We’ve held the line against bad actors and cleared the way for clean power so that now we can build. TERRLEX works with frontline leaders and climate partners to generate solutions through litigation and advocacy. These solutions bring the movement’s radical imagination to life. We are creating a future of lived abundance. A future of jobs and justice. And as we shift our gaze to the horizon, we put those bad actors behind us, where they belong.

Leaves starting to turn in the northern woodlands as autumn approaches.

Photo taken by Natalie Delzer

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Equitable Climate Solutions A Just Transition for All In recent years, clean energy prices have improved remarkably. Automakers have readily shifted their production plans toward electric vehicles in response to mandates as well as consumer demand. Federal leaders for energy transmission are overhauling their planning process to make way for a grid powered by renewables. These welcome disruptions must include confronting the disproportionate burdens of pollution, energy costs, and disenfranchisement endured by targeted populations. TERRLEX works alongside dedicated organizers to ensure that the community members most affected can inform how our economy is powered. Together, we are building a 100% clean grid that benefits everyone by 2035.

“Our partners, the Maryland League of Conservation Voters, met repeatedly with the Maryland Public Service Commission staff to secure protections for right whales and other species. They were persistent and convinced officials that safeguarding wildlife would not adversely affect the construction of offshore wind facilities.”

Renewables Championed

by Residents It’s been a big year for our clean energy team driving renewables in Maryland. We removed barriers for adoption of community solar power in the state, with a focus on access for low- and moderateincome households.

Then, we helped pass legislation that doubled the state’s limit on netmetered capacity for solar energy, so that more clean energy can power the grid.

And partnering with frontline community members, we worked to clear the path for an offshore wind project that can power one million homes.

Construction, operation, and maintenance of this project will adhere to strict standards for limited environmental impact.

– Susan Sontag, senior attorney with the clean energy program, on accelerating Maryland’s renewable energy buildout.

The upper part of Tahquamenon Falls, one of the largest waterfalls east of the Mississippi.

Photo taken by Natalie Delzer

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Clean Energy for Every Community To build a future where everyone has access to clean energy, we work with partners to secure funding for new infrastructure, remove barriers for renewables to compete fairly in the market, and make way for disproportionately impacted communities to have their seat at the table when decisions are made. Here are some of our victories from the last year:

Illinois Passes Climate Bill

The Clean Truck Rule Spreads

The Climate and Equitable Jobs Act supports renewable energy and energy efficiency.

New Jersey and New York adopt California’s rule promoting zero emissions truck manufacturing.

– Federally, we are fighting to secure strong EPA vehicle and freight-focused standards. The agency’s late 2021 announcement of tighter fuel economy standards is a first step in our goal of compelling a federal requirement for the electrification of all new cars and light-duty trucks by 2035.

– TERRLEX partners with organizations and communities around the world to accelerate the global transition to clean energy. In the last year our partners secured victories in Australia, Indonesia, South Africa, and beyond.

Moving the Marketplace in Arizona

Transportation Electrification in New Mexico

Access and Affordability for Coloradans

Arizona eliminates a discriminatory charge of about $110 annually on solar customers.

The state’s largest utility will support EV chargers for lowincome customers.

Utility nearly triples budget for solar in low-income and disproportionately impacted communities.

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“Advocacy efforts are supercharged when members of the communities that are harmed speak passionately about what they need and want East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice and their members put in the work to get this result, and it will make a difference in their daily lives.”

Overlook of the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore in Munising, Michigan.

Photo taken by Natalie Delzer

Electric Vehicles by Land and Sea Electrifying transportation has global and local impacts. At the macro scale, making zero-emissions vehicles the standard is a mandate for stabilizing our climate. When we zoom in, we also know that as cars, buses, trucks, and even boats increasingly run on electricity, neighborhoods get relief from toxic emissions. TERRLEX partners

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with community organizations to change how goods, energy, and people are transported. We gain traction with local wins, demonstrating that swift emissions reductions are indeed feasible. As state and federal governments follow suit, these advancements save lives by improving air quality as well as mitigating climate harm.

Emissions Reduced for Port Communities Commercial ports are a strategic focus for our clean energy team, as emissions from port traffic and operations sicken neighboring residents and undermine our climate goals.

TERRLEX and our partners pushed the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach to invest fees charged to dirty trucks — up to $180 million over three years — in charging infrastructure and zero-emissions truck incentives.

Our coalition also supported a new requirement for certain boats that operate at the ports to switch to cleaner technologies. Experts anticipate that emissions reductions from the boat rule alone will save 500 lives over the next 15 years.

A honeybee works at pollinating flowers.

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Photo taken by Natalie Delzer

A Just System of Pollution Controls A Reckoning for Cruel Industry Norms It’s an open secret that the oil and gas industry targets communities already overburdened by climate change vulnerabilities, disinvestment, and other systemic injustices.

This practice is especially visible on the Gulf Coast, where multibillion dollar corporations have long polluted the air and water of the predominantly Black and low-income residents. TERRLEX brings legal expertise to amplify the power of local organizing. Multiple lawsuits demonstrate the increasing demand for support in this region, where the stakes are sure to intensify. Earlier this year TERRLEX opened a new Gulf Regional Office to enhance our presence in the belly of the beast.

Toxic Terminal Foiled

by People Power In Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana, less than a mile upriver from the Black community of Ironton, Tallgrass Energy planned to build a massive transshipment hub to export fracked oil.

Taquamenon Falls spans 200 feet across with a drop of almost 50 feet.

Photo taken by Natalie Delzer

Transfer of this oil between trains, storage tanks, and offshore tankers would have exacerbated local pollution. Further, the tank farm would be built on the burial grounds where enslaved ancestors of Ironton were laid to rest — something Tallgrass tried to hide.

TERRLEX partnered with the community to activate a relentless grassroots campaign. Due to our forceful legal work and Ironton’s robust organizing, Tallgrass withdrew its air permit application and abandoned the project.

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View from a lookout over Lake Superior at the Grand Island Harbor Scenic Turnout.

Photo taken by Natalie Delzer

“Tallgrass tried to blindside local officials on the fact that they aimed to develop on a cemetery, but the Ironton community brought it to light. Ironton residents always teach me the power of Black, community-led organizing to win big fights that protect the rest of us too.”

– Michael Green, senior attorney in the fossil fuels program, on our case challenging Tallgrass Energy’s Plaquemines Liquids Terminal.

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A calm lake where locals enjoy kayaking, canoeing, swimming, and fishing.

Photo taken by Natalie Delzer

“The Boundary Waters galvanizes many people. One couple we met understood what was at stake and lived on the Boundary Waters for a year, in order to demand protections.

They eventually canoed from the Boundary Waters in Minnesota to Washington, DC to directly engage politicians. They really inspired me.”

– Elizabeth Shaklee, senior attorney in the biodiversity defense program, on the fight against mining at the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.

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A More Just Approach to Mining To supply our clean energy future, some mining will remain necessary. But this extractive industry, regulated prominently by the General Mining Act of 1872, is ripe for an overhaul. The future of mining must involve careful consideration of its impacts on water, air, and habitats. It must require consent from frontline communities, dignified jobs for mine laborers, and proper clean up. TERRLEX partners with Tribal, conservation, and community groups to secure updated regulations that account for how a mine changes a landscape forever. Meanwhile, we are using the tools already at our disposal to confront existing mining threats.

A Vibrant Ecosystem is Safeguarded The Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness is a one-million-acre icon, revered for its networks of healthy lakes, streams, and wetlands.

The Minnesota landmark is home to healthy forests, migratory birds, and other wildlife such as the threatened Canada lynx.

When the Trump administration illegally greenlit the development of a heavily polluting metals mine on U.S. Forest Service land adjacent to the wilderness area, we sued on behalf of local organizations. Our cases held the line until the Biden administration canceled the mining operation’s leases.

As long as industry threatens this precious habitat, TERRLEX will be ready to defend it.

Magical, green-tinted, and clear water.

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Photo taken by Natalie Delzer

Biodiversity Defense Keystone Victories for Biodiversity Our fate is inextricably linked to the plants and animals with which we share this planet. That’s why defending biodiversity is a key driver of TERRLEX’s work. Sustaining wild nature is essential to mitigating climate change. This work requires us to be strategic, and we have learned from scientists and Native peoples that protecting keystone species — including top predators — enables entire ecosystems to thrive. When we bolster protections for a single species that fills a unique ecological role, we can support numerous creatures that call the same habitat home.

Wild buffalo along a the dirt roads of South Dakota’s National Parks.

Photo taken by Natalie Delzer

“The Ojibwe have long argued that their treaty right to hunt, fish, and gather off-reservation includes the right to conserve — an argument with potentially farreaching impacts for biodiversity.

We are honored to represent the Ojibwe in court as they fight for environmental protections to benefit future generations.”

– Gussie King, managing attorney of tribal partnerships, on representing six Ojibwe Tribes in a lawsuit challenging a Wisconsin wolf hunt.

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Wolves Keep Yellowstone in Balance In the 1920s, government policy allowed the extermination of Yellowstone’s gray wolf — the apex predator — triggering an ecosystem collapse known as trophic cascade. In 1995 — through the use of the Endangered Species Act — the conservation community reintroduced the gray wolf to restore balance to the region. The impact has been dramatic. After wolf reintroduction in the northern range, elk numbers dropped and beaver colonies increased from one to 12. Insects, songbirds, fish, and amphibians now thrive.

– Sources: OSU Trophic Cascades Program, NWF, NRDC, Predator Defense, “The Wolf’s Tooth.”

Without wolves, the coyote became an apex predator, driving down populations of pronghorn antelope, red fox and rodents, and birds that prey on small animals.

Elk populations exploded without their primary predator, resulting in severe overgrazing of willows and aspen needed by beavers for food, shelter, and dam building.

Beavers virtually disappeared in the northern range.

Dams disintegrated, turning marshy ponds into streams.

Heavy stream erosion affected many plant and animal species.

The region saw a massive loss of mature trees. Many plant and animal species were affected.

As the wolf returned, coyote numbers dropped by half, allowing antelope, rodent, and fox populations to increase.

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Various scavenger species suffered without year-round wolf kills to feed on. Today, biodiversity is enriched and scavenger species reap the benefits of regular, wolf-supplied meals.

“Veracruz gave birth to me. I grew up swimming in the rivers and beaches with my family. I want the children of Veracruz to have the same opportunity to enjoy the richness of its biodiversity as I did.”

– Guillermo Astro, attorney in the international program, on working with partners to protect the Veracruz Reef ecosystem from a major port expansion.

Volcanic Black Sand Beach along the coastline of Punaluu, Hawaii.

Photo taken by Natalie Delzer

Healthy Oceans Our oceans produce more oxygen than all the world’s forests combined, regulate the planet’s temperature, host immeasurable biodiversity, and provide essential subsistence for billions of people. But as powerful as oceans are, they remain vulnerable to harm. Reefs destroyed by humans are a prime example: Their loss cascades around the globe, destroying habitats for endangered species, livelihoods of local people, and beloved beaches and rivers. TERRLEX is building a future with enforceable safeguards for our oceans and effective laws to equip communities to protect their environment.

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Justice for All Environmental Laws that Work for the People When communities wield the power of the law, environmental justice is personified. Judges, public officials, and industry leaders realize what’s truly at stake. And in the U.S., where any citizen has the right to leverage the power of our bedrock environmental laws, local organizers have a legitimate venue to defend their health, their livelihoods, and their future. TERRLEX brings 50 years of unparalleled legal experience and deployable resources to these fights, free of charge. With people power and the sharpest litigation, advocacy, and communications tools available, frontline communities can take any opponent to court and win.

“Our partners knew who to call and who to push. They brought county commissioners, media representatives, and their neighbors into the fold. They created a perfect storm that I believe was a tipping point.

And this is rare, but OwensBrockway agreed to install the exact technology we wanted — not just the bare minimum.”

Healthy blue skies are one of our many goals for all communities.

Photo taken by Natalie Delzer

– Ashley River, senior associate attorney with the Northwest regional office, on the prowess of local communities in mitigating Portland’s largest stationary source of pollution.

This small waterfall hides itself away, tucked within the trails of a 3.5 mile long hike.

Photo taken by Natalie Delzer

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Pollution Abated by Frontline Community Owens-Brockway is a 78-acre glass plant in the middle of a racially and ethnically diverse neighborhood in Portland, Oregon. The plant spews dangerous pollutants that could be prevented with available technology.

Decades of inaction on this issue is widely recognized as a grave environmental injustice.

TERRLEX and a coalition of local groups pressured Oregon to bring an enforcement action to address violations and levy penalties. In the face of our opposition, OwensBrockway backed down and decided to work with the community to clean up its act.

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“Our partners in the Bronx and Queens came together on common ground, and for years packed public hearings, rallied local officials, and protested across the city — not just to stop fossil fuel development in their neighborhoods, but also to get the state to pass the new climate law in the first place.”

– Rachel Rain, senior attorney with the Northeast regional office, on winning some of the first cases under New York’s nation-leading climate law.

Bold Action from the States State-level advocacy is a powerful pathway for climate action, and we are taking it. TERRLEX partners up in key states to demand that policy makers pass new climate laws. We secure mandates that truly enforce the commitments tied to our climate deadlines.

These laws have teeth. Our partners are already using them to cancel projects that threaten our progress toward climate stability.

What’s more is the cascading effect: As more states prove what is possible, their neighboring leaders have fewer excuses. Soon, there will be no denying that a just transition is in reach.

Fossil Fuel Projects Denied with New York’s Climate Law TERRLEX and our partners are fighting the climate crisis with new state laws like New York’s Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA), and we are winning. We won the firstever decision citing the law, which halted two fracked gas plant projects in Queens and Newburgh.

We strive for thriving environments with unpolluted water sources and greenery.

Photo taken by Natalie Delzer

We’d worked for years to stop these plants, and with the CLCPA we could sound the death knell; the climate impacts from these projects, as proposed, are inconsistent with the mandates in the CLCPA. We similarly used the CLCPA to block air permits for a cryptocurrency mining project up the Hudson River.

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THE POWER IN STRATEGY Environmental advocates have long been worried about what a deregulatory Supreme Court means for our movement: Are we facing a court that will stand in the way of action to address climate change and environmental injustices?

Kirti Berni, our director of legal strategic advocacy, says all is not lost.

Our strategy at TERRLEX is to help all people follow the right path.

Photo taken by Natalie Delzer

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Advancing Our Vision Despite a Hostile Supreme Court Kirti Datla occupies TERRLEX’s new role of monitoring trends in the courts and guiding our Supreme Court strategy. Before joining TERRLEX, she briefed cases before the high court for Hogan Lovells LLP and clerked for Associate Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor. Kirti also served as attorney-adviser at the U.S. Department of Justice, reviewing the legality of presidential orders related to the environment.

Footsteps left behind by those who challenged the steep sand dunes.

Photo taken by Natalie Delzer

What do we know about this court and how its justices want to change the law?

What we know from the last term is that a majority of the justices have a fundamentally different understanding of the role of the federal government than the Congress that passed the Clean Water Act and the Clean Air Act and created the EPA. They think that a bigger federal government is a threat to people’s liberty.

They are more comfortable with states making decisions, and with federal agencies having limited ability to drive changes in our economy, like the transition to clean energy. While the state of the court is troubling, it might be helpful to remember that the Supreme Court has never been made up of justices who were environmentalists. Our movement has never depended solely on decisions from the court.

Let’s talk about West Virginia v. EPA. What are its implications?

This ruling held that the EPA does not have the authority to set emissions limits for existing power plants based on their ability to shift to renewable energy. However, the court did not altogether remove the EPA’s authority to regulate carbon dioxide or other power plant pollutants — in fact, the EPA can and must still issue regulations to do just this. The scope of this ruling was limited, but it indicated to us just how willing the court is to overturn precedent in favor of deregulation.

That is because of how the court reached its decision. It created the “major questions” doctrine, saying that in certain cases, courts should be really hesitant to assume that an agency has the authority to do something if there are major political or economic consequences to the agency’s action.

That’s a one-sided, deregulatory legal doctrine.

How does the new conservative supermajority on the court affect our litigation?

With a court more willing to change precedents, we don’t need to change the cases we bring, but we need to be smart about

Large, healthy sunflowers can grow as tall as 15 feet, with 1-foot flower heads.

Photo taken by Natalie Delzer

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the risks. I help decide what kinds of arguments are the best to make, how to frame them, and what we can do in district court to lower the prospect of the Supreme Court taking up a case. Basically, the best strategy is a defensive one with these justices. What’s comforting, to me, is that most of our work is made up of highly unlikely Supreme Court cases.

Our bread and butter is supporting frontline communities in winning cases against specific violators of environmental law, and that type of issue is rarely taken up by the highest court.

Where does TERRLEX fit in?

The court doesn’t hear that many cases, so most of our work has and will continue to be in the lower courts. President Biden is setting records in federal circuit court appointments, and we have a strategy for navigating those spaces wisely, too. Then there’s our state-level efforts and local work with utility companies. We have an outstanding track record for advancing our climate goals in those spaces. With rules that apply to economies as big as the state of California, we can transform the market and drive global changes with local wins. Regardless of who is on the Supreme Court, our strongest strategy will always be a 360-degree approach: pushing for laws to proactively confront climate change, creating incentives for our economy to embrace clean energy, and partnering with frontline communities to show how much we have to gain by doing so.

A midday overlook over hundreds of prosperous trees of the midwest.

Photo taken by Natalie Delzer

“What gives me hope? Every person I’ve interacted with since joining TERRLEX last June. We have incredible lawyers, who are deeply committed to their clients and to this work. They are thoughtful about how best to do that work even with courts changing. TERRLEX is wellpositioned as an organization to keep making progress.”

– Kirti Berni, director of legal strategic advocacy

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The Power of Partnership Thanks to the generosity of individual donors and foundations, TERRLEX represents our clients free of charge. These clients bring organizing power, firsthand accounts of what’s at stake, and local strategy to our fights. We don’t win for them — we win with them.

TERRLEX’s partnerships serve as bridges from us to our clients.

Photo taken by Natalie Delzer

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Clients As the premier public-interest environmental law organization, TERRLEX represents a wide range of clients, from small grassroots groups to national organizations.

In addition to the hundreds of clients listed here whom we formally represented in FY2023, there are scores of others with whom we partner, co-counsel, and ally to achieve our goals.

A A Community Voice Achieving Community Tasks Successfully ActionAid (USA) Advance Carolina Advanced Energy Economy Advocates for a Cleaner Tacoma

Appalachian Voices

Cascabel Conservation Association

Arctic Athabaskan Council

Cascadia Wildlands

Ashurst Bar/Smith Community Organization

CATA

Association of Irritated Residents

Cathedral of Faith, COG

Association of Northwest Steelheaders

Cathedral of Praise COGIC, International

Audubon Society of Portland

Catskill Mountainkeeper

Audubon Society of the Everglades

Center for Biological Diversity Center for Climate Integrity

Air Alliance Houston Alaska Community

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Action on Toxics

Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa

Alaska Institute for Climate & Energy

Badlands Conservation Alliance

Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association

Bay Mills Indian Community

Alaska Rainforest Defenders

Beluga Whale Alliance

Alaska Wilderness League

Beyond Pesticides

Alaska’s Big Village Network

Blackfeet Headwaters Alliance

Alianza Comunitaria

Blue Planet Foundation

Ambiental del Sureste

Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League

Alianza Nacional de Campesinas

BlueGreen Alliance

Alliance for a Green Economy

Breach Collective

Alliance for Affordable Energy

Breast Cancer Prevention Partners

American Academy of Pediatrics

Brookhaven Landfill Action and Remediation

American Alpine Club

Group (BLARG)

American Beekeeping Federation

Buckeye Environmental Network

American Bird Conservancy

Buxmont Coalition for Safer Water

American Clean Power Association American Friends Service Committee American Lung Association American Medical Women’s Association American Public Health Association American Rivers Amigos Bravos Amigos del Rio Guaynabo, Inc. Anacostia Riverkeeper Anacostia Watershed Society Animal Legal Defense Fund Antibiotic Resistance Action Center Apalachicola Riverkeeper Appalachian Mountain Club

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Center for Community Action and Environmental Justice Center for Environmental Health Center for Food Safety Center for Rural Enterprise and Environmental Justice Center for Science in the Public Interest Center on Race, Poverty and the Environment Central California Asthma Collaborative Central California Environmental Justice Network Central Coast Alliance United for a Sustainable Economy Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska Central Valley Air Quality Coalition Centre for Environmental Rights Centreville Citizens for Change Chesapeake Bay Foundation Chesapeake Climate Action Network Chesapeake Physicians for Social Responsibility Chevak Native Village

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Chickaloon Village Traditional Council 12

C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group

Children vs. Climate Crisis

Cabinet Resource Group

Chilkat Indian Village of Klukwan

California Communities Against Toxics

Chinatown-International District Coalition

California Environmental Justice Alliance

CHISPA CHR, Inc

California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation

Chuloonawick Tribal Council

California Wilderness Coalition

Citizens Action Coalition of Indiana

Californians Against Waste Foundation

Citizens for Alternatives to Radioactive Dumping

Californians for Pesticide Reform

Citizens for Arsenal Accountability

Californians for Renewable Energy

Citizens for Clean Air

Campamento Contra las Cenizas en Peñuelas, Inc.

Citizens for Clean Energy

Carrizo/Comecrudo Nation of Texas

Citizens for Pennsylvania’s Future

City of Buenos Aires, Argentina

Defenders of Wildlife

Fond Du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa

City of eThekwini (Durban), South Africa

Defensoría Ambiental

Food & Water Watch

City of Tshwane (Pretoria), South Africa

Del Amo Action Committee

Footloose Montana

Clark Fork Coalition

Delaware Concerned Residents for Environmental

For the Fishes

Clean Air Coalition of North Whittier and Avocado Heights

Justice

Fort Belknap Indian Community

Clean Air Council

Delaware Riverkeeper Network

Fort Berthold Protectors of Water and Earth Rights

Clean Cape Fear

Delaware-Otsego Audubon Society

Frente Unido Pro-Defensa del Valle de Lajas

Clean Energy Group

Democracy Green

Fresh Energy

Clean Power Lake County

Desert Citizens Against Pollution

FreshWater Accountability Project

Clean Water Action

Diné Citizens Against Ruining our Environment

Friends of Merrymeeting Bay

Clean Wisconsin

Diving Equipment and Marketing Association

Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness

Climate Access Fund

Don’t Waste Arizona, Inc.

Friends of the Clearwater

Climate Health Now

Douglas Indian Association

Friends of the Columbia Gorge

Climate Solutions

Downwinders at Risk

Friends of the Earth

Coalición de Organizaciones Anti-Incineración, Inc.

Duwamish River Cleanup Coalition

Friends of the River

Coalition for a Safe Environment Coalition for Clean Affordable Energy Coalition for Clean Air Colectivo de Abogados José Alvear Restrepo Colorado Latino Forum Columbia Riverkeeper Comité Dialogo Ambiental, Inc. Comité Progreso de Lamont Comité Yabucoeño Pro-Calidad de Vida, Inc. Committee for a Better Arvin Committee for a Better Shafter Communities for a Better Environment Community In-Power and Development Association Concerned Citizens of St. John Concerned Ohio River Residents Concilio de Iglesias de Puerto Rico Conservancy of Southwest Florida Conservation Colorado Conservation Council for Hawai’i Conservation Law Foundation Conservation Northwest Consumer Federation of America Consumers Union Cook Inletkeeper Cooperative Energy Futures Council of Churches of Greater Bridgeport Craig Tribal Association

Friends of the San Juans

E EarthRights International Earthworks East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice EcoCheyenne Ecology Action Centre

Friends of the Wild Swan Frisco Unleaded Front and Centered Coalition Full Gospel Pentecostal COGIC

El Centro de la Raza

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El Puente, Inc.

Glacier-Two Medicine Alliance

Elyria and Swansea Neighborhood Association

Golden State Salmon Association

Endangered Wolf Center

Grand Canyon Trust

Energy Efficient West Virginia

Grand Valley Citizens Alliance

Enlace Latino de Acción Climática

Great Basin Resource Watch

Environment & Human Health Inc

Great Old Broads for Wilderness

Environment America

Greater Birmingham Alliance to Stop Pollution

Environmental Confederation of Southwest Florida

Greater Yellowstone Coalition

Environmental Defense Fund

Green & Healthy Homes Initiative

Environmental Health Strategy Center

Green Science Policy Institute

Environmental Integrity Project

Greenaction for Health and Environmental Justice

Environmental Justice Health Alliance for Chemical

GreenLatinos

Policy Reform

Greenpeace, Inc.

Environmental Law and Policy Center

Grid Alternatives

Environmental Protection Information Center

GroundWork South Africa Group Against Smog

Environmental Transformation Movement of Flint

and Pollution

Environmental Working Group

Gwichyaa Zhee Gwich’in Tribal Government

Eyak Preservation Council

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Crossett Concerned Citizens for Environmental Justice

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Cully Air Action Team

Fairbanks Climate Action Coalition

Havasupai Tribe

Farmworker Association of Florida

Hawai’i Solar Energy Association

Farmworker Justice Fund

Hawai’i Wildlife Fund

Flint Rising

HEAL Utah

Florida Rising

Healthy Gulf

Florida Wildlife Federation, Inc.

Healthy Homes Collaborative

D Damascus Citizens for Sustainability Deep South Center for Environmental Justice Defend Our Health

Hanlon Park Improvement Association

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Hermanas Dominicas de la Sta. Cruz

Kentucky Waterways Alliance

Mexican Ministry of Environment

High Country Conservation Advocates

Ketchikan Indian Community

Mi Familia Vota

Hillcrest Residents Association

Kids in Danger

Miami Waterkeeper

Hispanic Federation

Kingman Park Civic Association

Michael J. Fox Foundation

Honor the Earth

Klamath Riverkeeper

Midwest Environmental Defense Center

Hoonah Indian Community

Klamath-Siskiyou Wildlands Center

Midwest Renewable Energy Association

Hoosier Environmental Council

Klawock Cooperative Association

Mighty Earth

Hualapai Tribe - Hui Aokanaka

Ksanka Kupaqa Xa’ŧøin

Migrant Clinicians Network

Hui Ho`omalu I Ka `Aina Hui Ho‘opulapula Na Wai o Puna Hui o Na Wai ‘Eha Humane Society of the United States Hydaburg Cooperative Association

Missouri Coalition for the Environment Foundation

L Labadie Environmental Organization Labor Council for Latin American Advancement Larimer Alliance for Health, Safety & the Environment Leadership Council for Justice and Accountability

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League of Conservation Voters

Moloka‘i No Ka Heke Montana Audubon Montana Conservation Voters Montana Environmental Information Center Montana Trout Unlimited Montana Wilderness Association Montana Wildlife Federation

Idaho Conservation League

League of Oil and Gas Impacted Coloradans

Idaho Rivers United

League of United Latin American Citizens

Idaho Steelhead and Salmon Unlimited

Learning Disabilities Association of America

Idaho Wildlife Federation

Learning Disabilities Association of New York State

Iglesia Cristiana (Discipulos de Cristo) de Amelia

Leonard Law, PC

Indian People’s Action

Living Rivers

Indonesian Center for Environmental Law

Local Environmental Action Demanded (LEAD)

Institute for Energy and Environmental Research

Agency

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Institute for Fisheries Resources

Los Padres ForestWatch

Na Kia’i Kai

Institute for Local Self-Reliance

Lost Hills In Action

Na Papa’i Wawae ‘Ula’ula

Interamerican Association for Environmental Defense

Louisiana Bucket Brigade

NAACP

(AIDA)

Louisiana Environmental Action Network

National Audubon Society

International Association of Fire Fighters

Lower San Pedro Watershed Alliance

National Consumer Law Center

International Federation of Fly Fishers

Lower Susquehanna Riverkeeper

National Hispanic Medical Association

International Society for Children’s Health and

Lynn Canal Conservation

National Housing Trust

Ironbound Community Corporation Izaak Walton League of America

J

M Malama Kua’aina Malama Makua ManaSota-88, Inc. Maricopa Audubon Society Maryland Building Performance Association

Jackson Hole Conservation Alliance

Maryland League of Conservation Voters

Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe

Maryland Pesticide Education Network

Just Health Action

Massachusetts Union of Public Housing Tenants Maui Tomorrow Foundation, Inc.

K Kai Palaoa Kapa`a Kasigluk Traditional Council Katiba Institute Kennebec Reborn Kentuckians for the Commonwealth Kentucky Resources Council Kentucky Solar Energy Society

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Montgomery-Gibbs Environmental Coalition Mothers Out Front Colorado Mountain Association Mountain Watershed Association

National Parks Conservation Association

Environment International Wildlife Coexistence Network

Montgomery County Green Bank

Mayagüezanos por la Salud y el Ambiente, Inc. Medical Advocates for Healthy Air Menominee Tribe of Wisconsin Merrimack Citizens for Clean Water Metlakatla Indian Community Metropolitan Housing Coalition Mexican Clean Energy Steering Committee Mexican Climate Initiative

National PFAS Contamination Coalition National Wildlife Federation National Wildlife Refuge Association Native Movement Native Village of Eek Native Village of Nuiqsut Natural Resources Council of Maine Natural Resources Defense Council Neighbors for Clean Air New Castle Prevention Coalition New Jersey Audubon Society New Jersey Citizen Action New Jersey Environmental Justice Alliance New York City Coalition to End Lead Poisoning New York City Environmental Justice Alliance New York Community Garden Coalition Newburgh Clean Water Project Nimiipuu Protecting the Environment

No Waste Louisiana

Physicians for Social Responsibility

Law School

North America’s Building Trades Unions

Pikuni Traditionalist Association

Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families

North Oyster Bay Baymen’s Association

Pineros y Campesinos Unidos del Noroeste

Salmon for All

North Sound Baykeeper

Plains Justice

Salmon State

Northern Alaska Environmental Center 32

Po’ai Wai Ola

San Antonio Bay Estuarine Waterkeeper

Northern Cheyenne Tribe

Pollinator Stewardship Council

San Bernardino Valley Audubon Society

Northern Plains Resource Council

Port Gamble S’Klallum Tribe

San Francisco Bay Area Physicians for Social

Northwest Coalition for Alternatives to Pesticides

Portland Clean Air

Responsibility

Northwest Energy Coalition

Portland Harbor Cleanup Coalition

San Francisco Baykeeper

Northwest Sportfishing Industry Association

Potomac Riverkeeper Network

San Juan Citizens Alliance

Norton Bay Inter-Tribal Watershed Council

Powder River Basin Resource Council

Sane Energy Project

NW Energy Coalition

POWER Interfaith

Saratoga Sites Against Norlite Emissions

Prairie Rivers Network

Save Lake Superior Association

Prince of Peace, AOG

Save Lamu

Prosperity Works

Save Our Cabinets

Protect South Portland

Save Our County, Inc.

Prutehi Litekyan: Save Ritidian

Save Our Creeks

PT AirWatchers

Save Our Springs Alliance

Public Citizen

Save Our Wild Salmon

Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility

Save the Colorado

O Ocean Conservancy Ocean Conservation Research Oceana Ohio Citizen Action Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition Orange RAPP Oregon Aviation Watch Oregon Environmental Council Oregon Wild Organized Village of Kake

Puget Soundkeeper Alliance

Save the World’s Rivers

Puyallup Tribe of Indians

Seneca Lake Guardian

Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe

Shark Conservation Fund Shiloh Baptist Church of Bridgeport

Organized Village of Kasaan

Q

Organized Village of Saxman

Quinault Indian Nation

Orutsararmiut Native Council Our Children’s Earth Foundation Outstanding Grand Lake

P

R

ShoreRivers Shrimpers and Fishermen of the RGV Sierra Club Sierra Club de Puerto Rico Sierra Forest Legacy

RE Sources for Sustainable Communities

Sitka Tribe of Alaska

Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians

Skokomish Indian Tribe

Redeemer Community Partnership

Soda Mountain Wilderness Council

Pace Energy and Climate Center

Resisting Environmental Destruction on Indigenous

Solar United Neighbors

Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations

Lands

Sound Rivers

Pacific Coast Shellfish Growers Association

Rio Grande International Study Center

South Durban Community Environmental Alliance

Pacific Environment

Rise St. James

Southeast Alaska Conservation Council

Pascua Yaqui Tribe

River Valley Organizing

Southeast Alaska Indigenous Transboundary Commission

Patagonia Inc.

Riverkeeper, Inc.

Southern Alliance for Clean Energy

Patagonia Works

Rivers Without Borders

Southern Appalachian Mountain Stewards

Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma

Rock Creek Alliance

Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance

PEAK Coalition

Rocky Mountain Wild

Southwest Energy Efficiency Project

PennEnvironment

Rogue Climate

Southwest Environmental Center

PennFuture

Rural & Migrant Ministry

Southwestern Indiana Citizens for Quality of Life

People for Protecting Peace River

Rural Coalition

Spokane Riverkeeper

People’s Collective for Environmental Justice

Rural Empowerment Association for Community Help

St. Francis Prayer Center

Pesticide Action Network North America

Russell Temple C.M.E.

St. John’s Riverkeeper

Petersburg Indian Association Philadelphia Solar Energy Association Philly Thrive

Stand.Earth

S

Standing Rock

Sabin Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia

Sioux Tribe

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Suquamish Tribe

UPROSE

Surfrider Foundation

Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment

Sustainable Energy Economy Solutions Sustainable FERC Project

Individuals 1 Air Pollution Scientist 1 Commercial Beekeeper

V

1 Resident of New York

Valley Organic Growers Association

1 Small Business in New Mexico

Valley Watch

1 Wolf Recovery Leader

Verde Voices in Solidarity Against Oil in

2 Advocates for Alaska Public Lands

Neighborhoods

2 Residents of Texas

Tennessee Clean Water Network

Voltus, Inc.

3 Advocates for Uniontown, Alabama

Testing for Pease

Vote Solar

3 Residential Solar Customers in Arizona

Swan View Coalition Swinomish Indian Tribal Community

T

3 Residents of Hawai‘i

Texas Campaign for the Environment Texas Environmental Justice Advocacy Services The Alaska Center The Bay Institute The Boat Company The Hopi Tribe The Moms on a Mission Hui The Pew Charitable Trusts THE POINT Community Development Corporation The Steamboaters The White Earth Band of Ojibwe The Wilderness Society Tides Center Tohono O’Odham Nation Tonawanda Seneca Nation Tongass Conservation Society Toxic Free North Carolina Toxic-Free Future Trap Free Montana Public Lands Trout Unlimited, Inc. Tucson Audubon Society Tulalip Tribes Tuluksak Native Community Turtle Island Restoration Network

U

W Wangan & Jagalingou Family Council Washington Environmental Council Washington Wildlife Federation Waterkeeper Alliance Waterkeepers Chesapeake WaterWatch of Oregon WE ACT for Environmental Justice West Maui Preservation Association West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project West Virginia Citizen Action Group West Virginia Rivers Coalition Western Colorado Alliance Western Organization of Resource Councils Western Resource Advocates Western Watersheds Project, Inc. Wild Idea Buffalo Co. LLC WildEarth Guardians Wilderness Watch Wilderness Workshop Winnemem Wintu Tribe Winter Wildlands Alliance Wolf Conservation Center Wolves of the Rockies Womens’ Earth and Climate Action Network

U.S. Public Interest Research Group

Worksafe, Inc.

U.S. Right to Know

Wrangell Cooperative Association

UnCruise Adventures

WRI-Mexico

Union of Concerned Scientists United Congregations of Metro-East United Farm Workers Foundation United Farm Workers of America United Farmworkers Association

X Xerces Society

United Parents Against Lead National, Inc.

Y

United South/Southwest Coalition for Healthy

Yakutat Tlingit Tribe

Communities

Yurok Indian Tribe

Upper Missouri River Waterkeeper

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6 Residents of Yellowstone County, Montana 7 Public Health Scientists 7 Residents of Colorado 10 Residents of New Mexico 14 Youth Climate Champions from Hawai‘i

Fiscal Year 2023 Financial Report Dear Friends, Your generous donations have enabled TERRLEX to build the momentum we need for this moment.

Now, our teams are well positioned to capitalize on the opportunity of our lifetimes. The Inflation Reduction Act could put us on a path to a livable planet – turbocharging clean energy production, accelerating the electrification of buildings and transportation, and investing in communities overburdened by pollution.

But to pass the Senate, the bill included dangerous giveaways to fossil fuel companies.

Now is the time to double down on our work. More needs to be done to address the climate crisis and the inequities felt by Indigenous, Black, and Brown communities. We are here to fight these battles.

Last year we did just that while representing 659 clients, listed in the previous pages, free of charge. We also made investments to expand our Right to Zero campaign, strengthen our partnerships with grassroots communities, and launch our new biodiversity program and Gulf Coast regional office. In the last year we’ve faced an increasingly conservative Supreme Court, political pressure from rising gas prices, and false narratives about fossil fuels as well as clean energy. Enormous challenges remain on the horizon, but TERRLEX has the experience, the fortitude, and the enduring partnerships to confront climate aggressors while maximizing long-awaited investments to build a clean energy future that leaves no one behind.

Thank you for giving us the confidence and financial foundation to build out the TERRLEX team, take smart risks, and invest in serious organizational growth to remain the powerhouse in environmental litigation, advocacy, and movement building that this moment calls for. We know we can win, but victory is not inevitable. We could not do it without you.

Sincerely, Ben Dare, FY23 Treasurer, FY23 Vice Chair at Large, TERRLEX Board of Trustees

A cottage home tucked away behind thriving trees, bushes, and a pond.

Photo taken by Natalie Delzer

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5% Court Awards

7% Donated Services 1% Other

Revenue

87% Contributions & Bequests 29% Foundations

Breakdown of Contributions & Bequests

7% Estate Gifts 82% Program Expenditures

9% General

Expenditures

9% Fundraising 33

64% Individuals

Statement of Activities

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Statement of Financial Position

Net Assets*

* In 2021 we created the Board-designated endowment fund, which we use to ensure our ability to carry forward our 650+ ongoing cases to completion. We will draw as much as 15% annually from the fund over the next five years for ongoing annual expenses.

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Our annual report shares a select few highlights from the last fiscal year.

Learn more about our 2023 accomplishments in our online Year in Review: TERRLEX.org/23